9/14/06 It's State Missing Person's Day in Idaho

Today, September 14, 2006 has been claimed as State Missing Person's Day in Idaho.

I would not have known this had I not received an email alerting me to this from one of our family members, the mother of missing Ahren Barnard, Vicki.

Information about Ahren: http://www.helpfindahren.com/index.html

The proclaimation reads as follows:


HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 45 BY REVENUE AND TAXATION COMMITTEE

A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION STATING LEGISLATIVE FINDINGS AND PROCLAIMING SEPTEMBER 14 AS MISSING PERSONS DAY.

Be It Resolved by the Legislature of the State of Idaho:

WHEREAS, according to the Federal Bureau of
Investigation' s National Crime Information Center there were
876,213 missing person entries (juveniles and adults) in the year
2001, with an average of 2,001 children disappearing daily
including children from the state of Idaho; and

WHEREAS, as of March 31, 2003, there were 97,297 active
missing person cases in the United States and of those missing
approximately 54,194 were juveniles and 43,113 were reports of
individuals eighteen and older and these statistics include citizens
of the state of Idaho; and

WHEREAS, in response to these alarming trends, nonprofit
organizations such as Project Jason, Center for Hope and the
Carole Sund/Carrington Memorial Reward Foundation were
founded for the purpose of educating the public in an effort to
prevent future abductions and disappearances and to provide
assistance to families of the missing; and

WHEREAS, all missing persons deserve to be searched for,
regardless of their age; and

WHEREAS, citizens, media and law enforcement must be
made aware of the plight of missing persons regardless of their
age; and

WHEREAS, our awareness, support, efforts and search for
missing persons must continue; and

WHEREAS, every missing person is someone' s son or
daughter, father or mother, brother or sister, husband or wife;
and

WHEREAS, the state of Idaho is committed to the safety and
well-being of all its citizens, both children and adults.

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the members
of the Second Regular Session of the Fifty-eighth Idaho
Legislature, the House of Representatives and the Senate
concurring therein, that we hereby proclaim September 14 as
Missing Persons Day, and the song "The Room We Never Go
In" shall be commemorated as the song for Missing Persons Day
and do hereby urge all citizens to take due note of the
observance.

HCR 45 was introduced, read the first time by title, and referred to the Judiciary, Rules, and Administration Committee for printing.

I was pleasantly surprised that Project Jason was mentioned in the proclamation, especially considering that we've never communicated with the family who worked hard to get this into place.

From http://www.kpvi.com/index.cfm?page=nbcheadlines.cfm&ID=36253 (Thank you, KPVI, for covering this important day.)

"There are over 200 missing people in Idaho - those are children and adults who have never come home. Today, Idaho Falls Mayor Jared Fuhriman signed a proclamation to show the city's support for Missing Persons Day. The state legislature approved the designation of every September 14th as a day to draw attention to those loved ones who are not forgotten.
Missing Person Day was an idea of the family of Amber Hoopes, who was abducted from her home five years ago next week.

Audra Burgener, Amber's aunt/organizer: "Amber was abducted September 14th. There are only two other states that recognize missing people - New York and Nebraska. There are millions of people missing every day, and I want our community to come together and learn how to protect themselves and their children."

Information about Amber: http://www.fbi.gov/wanted/kidnap/hoopes.htm

We congratulate and thank Audra for playing a huge part in gaining recognition for the missing in her home state. We also hope and pray that Amber, Ahren, and the other missing persons in Idaho will be found, safe, and soon.

Project Jason did a state proclaimation in June of 2004. You can read the text here, mid page:
http://www.projectjason.org/nsmpw.html

Please note that I have been informed that the Idaho Stateman newspaper has refused to cover this story. They won't do it for Amber, nor Ahren, nor any other missing person in Idaho. One must ask why. Here's their email address if you'd like to inquire: newsroom@idahostatesman.com

Update, 9/17/06:

The Statesman's reply to the above has been a form response stating that our source misrepresented the facts. We believe our source to be an honest one. The fact of the matter is that the Statesman did not run any story on Idaho State Missing Persons' Day. We noted that there was more than one story that day about elks and a story about cats.